Feels Like Home To Me
by floatinglights
Summary: One of the good things about seeing through earthbending was the ability to tell when someone's lying. And lately, she'd noticed, Aang had been doing that a lot. [Taang oneshot]


_**A/N:** Well, wouldja look at this? I actually finished something Avatar-related - That's a new one. Anyway, this plotbunny kept pestering me last night, so I pretty much had the whole thing in my head by the time I woke up again and could start writing. It's just a 'small' Taang oneshot, with very (and I repeat, _very_) subtle hints of Zutara and Sukka. _

_I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Would you stop reminding me of that?_

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**Feels Like Home To Me**

One of the best things about her way of seeing, Toph Bei Fong always thought, was being able to tell when someone was lying.

It had always come in handy. When they were younger and still fighting the Fire Nation, it had been very useful to see who was trustworthy and who wasn't. But also after the war, she'd had plenty of opportunities to use her ability; and those had been infinitely more fun. How very amusing it had been to embarrass Sokka when he was bragging about his accomplishments, or to pester Katara into lying about her feelings for the young Fire Lord, Zuko (unfortunately, the fun sort of died out after they announced their engagement).

And lately, it enabled her to tell every one of Aang's _'I'm fine's'_ had been a lie.

She let that pass at first. After all, being the Avatar was not the easiest job in the world. She knew he didn't feel 'fine' about everything he had to do for it. But it soon became clear that this had very little to do with his duties as the Avatar, and that was when it started to bother her. Not that she didn't respect his privacy. It was just that every time he told her he was 'fine' again, he seemed to become more miserable. And really; such a miserable Aang was not the most brightening company to be around.

Yet the actual problem managed to catch her quite off-guard when he asked her (maybe because she had counted on having to press the subject for a long time, and he just asked her out of the blue).

"Do you want to leave me?"

Toph nearly dropped Momo to the ground. "_What_?" She ignored Momo's indignant noises and stalked over to the bald airbender sitting at the edge of a small lake. "That's _ridiculous_!" she hissed.

Aang felt his muscles tense: He had expected this kind of reaction from his earthbending master. "It's not," he said softly, digging his fingers into the cool grass.

"Yes, it is," Toph said impatiently, her blind eyes piercing through him.

"No it's not!" Aang said in a pained voice, and Toph cringed slightly inside. He continued in a calmer tone. "It's only natural." He wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them up under his chin, staring off into the distance.

It _was_ only natural if she'd want to leave, he thought. Katara and Sokka had both said they wouldn't leave at first, either. But then Sokka married Suki and Katara got engaged to Zuko and both settled down. It wouldn't be surprising if, sooner or later, Toph wanted to do the same.

For now, however, she only continued to stare at him through her unseeing eyes. "Twinkle Toes, I am _not_ leaving you," she stated firmly. "What on earth makes you think I will?"

"You know that," Aang mumbled, looking down at the ground. But Toph's raised eyebrows told him very clearly that she didn't know at all, and he sighed. "Sokka and Katara both wanted to settle down," he said, mouthing his previous thoughts.

Toph's eyebrows remained raised. "What, now I'm supposed to be Sugarqueen's or Snoozles' double or something?" she huffed indignantly. "Believe it or not, but I actually have some initiative of my own."

Aang couldn't repress a weak smile. He didn't think he knew anyone with more initiative than the blind earthbender next to him. Then the smile faded. "That's not all," he said quietly.

"Then what else is there?" Toph persisted. She was starting to get annoyed. What was wrong with him?

"There are your parents." Aang's voice was hardly more than a whisper now, but still clearly audible for Toph's sensitive ears.

She frowned. "What about them?"

"They want you back home," Aang said, his voice now bitter. "You know they do. I read their letters too -"

"Of course you did," Toph said, rolling her eyes. "I made you read them to me."

"- and they're willing to try everything they can to get what they want," Aang finished severely. "They can take away everything you have, Toph! Your inheritance, your name…"

He'd never told Toph that not all of her parents' letters had been addressed to her. A good lot of them had been directed at the Avatar, containing various requests for him to please send her back home. Over time, they got more persistent, now claiming it would be much better for her and it would only make all of them happier. Was he supposed to ignore all that just for his own selfish reasons?

Toph seemed to think so. "They're not going to do any of that." She waved her hand dismissingly. "I'm their only heir, and they care far too much about the family name to just give it up to some nobody." She was now positively annoyed. "Do you want me gone or something?"

"What?" Aang's eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. "No, of course not!" he exclaimed. "But-"

"Good," Toph said curtly. "Then stop sulking, because I'm not going anywhere."

"You don't understand," Aang said exasperatedly. "Your parents miss you, which is only logical, because –"

"Shut up," Toph advised him.

"- you haven't been home for years, and of course they're worried about you –"

"So what?"

"– and it's only natural that they'd want their daughter to settle down and – "

"And _what_?" Toph spat out, now completely through with him. "Get married to some rich snob who's only after out money and become the same fragile doll they always wanted me to be? Is that what you want me to do?"

It had been a long time since Aang had seen her this angry. Behind her black bangs, her foamy, green eyes gleamed venomously; her usually pale face was now flushed and her hands were clenched to fists. Worse than all that, though, was the unmistakably hurt tone in which she'd said it.

He stared down at the ground. "No," he whispered.

"Then what is wrong with you?" Toph snapped, tightly crossing her arms and legs.

For a moment, Aang was at loss for words. He knew, of course, what the problem was; but somehow, the right words refused to come to him. His head drooped onto his knees. "I don't want you to stay only for me," he finally managed in a small voice.

Toph noticed his heartbeat went up as he said this, and she relaxed her limbs a little. She shook her head. "I'm not," she stated. She dug her toes deeper into the earth beneath her. "You never thought about this from my point of view, did you?" she then asked, picking up a pebble and throwing it into the lake. "How my life would've been if it weren't for you?"

Aang only shook his head.

Toph grimaced lightly. Of course he hadn't. She hadn't expected him to. She, on the other hand, had had plenty of time to think about it, both before and after she ran away from home.

The years she spent in the house in Gaoling had been the loneliest years of her life. Everyone treated her distantly, as if something horrible would happen to her when they got closer. She often hoped that maybe someday, someone would come along and get her out of her prison. But no one came, and she soon understood that if she wanted freedom, her only option was to take advantage of the freedom she had – and become the Blind Bandit.

And then, all of a sudden, there was Aang. Aang, who didn't think she was small and helpless, who wasn't afraid to get closer to her. Aang, who understood her when no one else did and changed her life the way she had always hoped someone would.

He _freed_ her.

"I have," she said at last. "And it's not pretty."

Somehow, Aang still didn't look convinced. He shifted uncomfortably in the grass. "That's good," he said hesitantly, "but still, Toph…"

Toph frowned at him, but he ignored her.

"You should think it through," he continued, looking right at her even though he knew she couldn't really see him doing so. "What if you regret it later on? I don't want –"

Without a warning, without any indication of what she was about to do at all, Toph leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth.

Aang froze. All the reasons he'd thought of to make sure Toph didn't make the wrong decision seemed to evaporate on the spot, along with any other thought or emotion that could possibly have been going through his mind at the moment. He just sat there, completely unaware of how much time passed – it might have lasted ages for all he knew – until Toph finally pulled away.

"There," she said briskly, unable to fight back the bright, pink blush rising to her cheeks. "Now _shut up_, before I either bury or drown you."

It took Aang several seconds to regain control of his own mind, then several more seconds to realise what had happened, and then a last few seconds to understand what she'd just said. He just stared at her, mouth hanging slightly open, feeling his face redden. In the meantime, Toph was looking quite smug, obviously pleased with herself. Knowing he'd have to say _something_, he shook his head. "Y- you're sure about this, right?" he asked, well aware of the fact it sounded very stupid.

Toph rolled her eyes at him. "Very sure, Twinkle Toes."

"And you know I have absolutely nothing if you lose your inheritance and everything because of this, right?" He wasn't letting her win this easily, though he knew she would eventually.

"I know, and I won't," Toph snorted, looking half annoyed, half amused.

"And…" Aang furrowed his eyebrows, now just trying to annoy her. "You know I'll always have to travel, so I can't offer you a home, right?"

Toph shrugged and rested her head on his shoulder. "Really?" She smirked, sighing contently. "It feels like home to me."

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_**A/N:** Well, there you go then. I really do love Taang - It's actually one of my most loved ships in all fandoms, and I can tell you, that's saying a lot. Ranks somewhere high up there, together with Ron/Hermione and House/Cameron. I also love Zutara loads, but somehow neither Zuko or Katara really appeal to me as stand-alone characters... Oh well, I'll stop annoying you with this._

_Thank you very much for reading (which, by the time you reached this part of the page, I hope you have done) and I hope you enjoyed it._


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